


On The Other Side

by RainingCoffee



Series: Wibbly Wobbly We All Fall Down [2]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alien Culture, Family, Father-Daughter Relationship, References to Religion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-06
Updated: 2018-03-06
Packaged: 2019-03-27 22:52:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13890834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainingCoffee/pseuds/RainingCoffee
Summary: Willa's been traveling with the Doctor for around 5 years now. It's weird and wacky, and she wouldn't change it for the world. Not even when the Doctor's bad driving makes them end up in an alternate universe.This is kind of a companion story to Tilted to the Left. I won't say you have to read that one first to understand this one, but you'd probably be a whole lot less confused if you did.





	On The Other Side

**Author's Note:**

> As always, I do not own anything to do with Doctor who. I just like to play around with the characters that live in that universe. 
> 
> This takes place around the beginning of chapter 5 in my story Tilted to the Left. There really wasn't a place to put it in the chapter, it didn't fit. But the story refused to be discarded. So here we are. 
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> ~RainingCoffee

I sip my glass of water, peering out around the room. It was a fancy shindig, I’ll give it that, but I’d much rather not be here at all. 

“How long do we have to stay?” I murmur, keeping my voice low. 

The Doctor laughs, smiling at a woman passing by. “Just a little longer. I thought it’d be fun to check this out while we wait for the Tardis to recharge.”

Fun. Right. Not the word I would use. Especially since I was still physically 15 and as such no one would serve me alcohol right now.

“Don’t pout. This is supposed to be one of the wildest balls the Jexauch monarchy has ever thrown.” He continues, before shooing me off into the crowd. “Go, mingle. Have fun.”

I scowl at him over my shoulder as I maneuver my way through the crowd, but he just winks and waves as I walk away.

This really isn’t what I would call a good time. It was much more fun when I looked 10. People thought I was cute then, now I was matured enough that people were starting to look at me as an adult and it pissed me off. 

I might be mentally older, but they didn’t know that. All they saw was my 15 year old body, and that led to the Doctor pulling me out of several fights.

So I ‘mingle’. In which I mean I skirt along the outside of the room and loiter next to the food table for the majority of the time. At the two hour mark I decide that I have mingled quite enough thank you so I start looking around for the Doctor. 

I catch sight of his distinctive hair just as he turns the corner to go on the balcony and make may way determinedly in that direction. 

“Doctor, can we go no-“ I’m the majority of the way through saying before it dawns on me that the person who I just followed out onto the balcony isn’t the Doctor. 

Well it is the Doctor, just not the Doctor I was expecting. 

“Hello. Who might you be?” The Doctor asks, smiling. 

I stare at him, the ramifications of what is going on starting to run through my head. Pulling a small phone out of my purse, I press 1 on my speed dial. 

It rings twice, then the familiar tones of the Doctor I’m used to comes across the phone. “Yep, hello?”

“Are you aware that another version of you is running around the ball?” I ask him, skipping the pleasantries. 

There’s a pause. ‘Yes.’ He replies slowly. ‘I’m talking to him right now actually.’

Closing my eyes, I sigh. “Well isn’t that perfect. I have one in front of me as well.”

‘Really? Which one?’ The Doctor’s voice is exasperated. 

“You. Only not quite.” It’s the best description I can come up with. This is the David Tennant version of the Doctor, but it isn’t the one who I’ve gotten to know. This is the version he should have been. Young, brown eyes, the whole shebang. 

There’s another pause and this time when he speaks again his voice is serious. ‘Do you know where the receiving rooms are?’

“No.” I admit, biting my lip. The Doctor in front of me gestures for me to give him the phone. 

I do so, and they have a short conversation. Apparently this Doctor does know where the receiving rooms are, and he’s going to lead the two of us to the other Doctors. 

“So I take on a child as a companion in the future?” The Doctor fishes for information as he hands my phone back. 

“Not quite.” I respond. “It’s kind of a long story.”

He smiles at me. “Long stories are usually the best kind of stories. I’m the Doctor by the way, though you already knew that.”

I bite back a smile. “I’m Willa. And it’s very nice to meet this you, Doctor.” 

“This whole situation is getting more and more interesting.” The Doctor replies. I don’t even have to see his face to know that’s he’s still smiling. 

It doesn’t take us long to get to the receiving room, and the door opens easily for us. Inside is my Doctor and the version of the Doctor that would one day come after my Doctor. 

“Willa!” My Doctor says in relief. I move to stand near him. 

“Well that’s odd.” The Doctor who showed me to the room states, studying my Doctor. “What’s wrong with your eyes?” 

“That’s what I was asking him.” The bow tie Doctor pipes up, exchanging a look with his younger self. 

“There’s nothing wrong with his eyes.” I murmur, pursing my lips as all three of their gazes’ rest on me. 

My Doctor nods in agreement. “I’ve had blue eyes ever since I first regenerated to this body.” 

Bow tie scowls. “Well that’s not right.”

I roll my eyes. “We aren’t supposed to be here, that’s why. The Tardis fell through a gap.”

Placing a hand on my shoulder, my Doctor continues. “She’s recharging now, but we still had some time before that happened. I thought it would be a good idea to check out the ball since we were here anyways.”

“Alternate universe.” The alternate version of my Doctor states. 

“That happened to us here once.” Bow tie muses, expression turning sad. “With a past companion.”

My Doctor just looks confused. “Who?” 

The alternate Doctor looks away.

My head twinges, I can already feel the headache forming. “They’re talking about Rose. They fell through into an alternate reality where Rose’s dad was still alive. And there were Cyberman. It was not a very fun time for anyone involved.”

The Doctor’s hands on my shoulders brings me out of the loop I’m in, and I shake my head to clear it. “Better?”

“Yeah.” I breathe out, taking comfort in his touch.

“What was that?” Comes the alternate Doctor’s sharp voice. 

Bow tie comes into view, his expression just as severe. “How did she know that?” 

“Willa can perceive timelines.” My Doctor states, straightening back up and facing the two other Doctors. He keeps his hand on my shoulder, for which I’m grateful for. “I put up a general block on them for the most part, but every now and again things get through.”

The other two Doctor’s don’t look convinced, but they don’t ask any more questions. I frown at them. 

“Oh, Clara!” Bow tie exclaims. “I just left her on the dance floor by herself.” He wrings his hands, looking uncertainly towards the door. 

Clara, the impossible girl. I lean more heavily into the touch of my Doctor’s hands. This isn’t good at all. Something about being here, especially with all of them here in a room together is making everything go wobbily. 

“Clara?” The alternate Doctor asks.

Bow tie nods. “My companion. I’ll just go grab her, back in a mo’” And off he goes. 

“What about you?” My Doctor asks his alternate self. “You got a companion with you?”

“Nah. I’ve been knockin about by myself. It’s better that way.” The alternate Doctor responds, looking blasé about the whole thing. 

Silence descends. My Doctor is looking at his alternate self, and I have a feeling that he’s not exactly liking what he’s seeing. A commotion from the corridor cuts through the silence, and I for one am glad for it. 

The door opens, and Bow tie drags Clara through. He flings his arms out. “See, I told you!”

“Yes, you dd.” Clara murmurs, amused glint in her eyes. “Hello everyone.” 

There’s are murmurs of hello back, but for the most part the Doctor’s pull away to talk in their own corner. Clara comes over to me and smiles. “I’m Clara, nice to meet you.” 

“Hello Clara Oswald. It’s very nice to meet you indeed. I’m Willa.” I say, shaking the hand she holds out. 

“I didn’t say my last name.” Clara says, eyes narrowing just slightly. 

I smile. “I know you didn’t. I can see timelines, well sort of, sometimes. It’s a thing that happens.” Shrugging, I look over towards the Doctors. “As soon as the Doctor said your name I knew who you were.” 

Clara studies me for a second, then shrugs. “Okay. That’s good enough for me. Wanna go raid the food table and make fun of the guests?”

“Oh god yes.” I mutter. “Leave the Doctors to their scheming.”

She links our arms and cheerfully calls over her shoulder as we leave. “We’re going to cause trouble, don’t wait up!”

The door closes before any of them can respond and my lips twitch in amusement. “My Doctor is going to have a coronary, y’know?” 

Barking out a laugh, Clara regards me a secretive little smile. “He’s going to have to get used to it sooner or later, you’re a teenager now. Looking closer to being an adult every day.”

I side eye her, my own amusement fading. “How’d you know?”

“Those eyes are quite distinctive.” She murmurs back. 

“It’s not quite like that. We aren’t related by blood.” I respond, deciding to be frank with her. She was always my favorite companion if I was to be honest. “It’s different when you can regenerate. But he is taking that role anyways, so I’m not going to split hairs about it.”

Clara’s eyes light up. “The Doctor as a father. That’s one thing I never really saw him do.” Her eyes flicker over to me. “You know about the me thing?”

“Clara Oswin Oswald, the impossible girl.” I respond, biting my lip. 

She laughs. “Oh isn’t this just a little wizard.” 

Of course the two of us get along like a house on fire. We giggle into our drinks, mine being water and hers something that is decidedly not water, as guests walk by wearing the most ridiculous outfits. It may sound a little mean, but I don’t care who you are, a full body suit made of feathers does not look good on anyone. 

We’re having a pretty good time until my Doctor comes rushing into the ball room looking worried, the other two Doctor’s trailing in behind him. I watch as he scans the room, wondering what he’s doing until his eyes fall on me. He sags in relief and walks quickly in my direction. 

“Willa, thank god you’re okay.” He says when he draws close enough for me to hear him. 

“Of course I’m okay. Why wouldn’t I be okay?” I wonder, well used to his fussing but not at this level. It’s not like we snuck out, we told him where we were going. 

He shakes his head, easily picking up my thoughts from the hand he has placed on my arm. “Remember how I said this was one of the wildest balls the Jexauch monarchy had ever thrown? Well I had forgotten a key detail.”

I sigh, good mood plummeting. “Something bad happens.” 

The Doctor nods. “I’ve spoken with the others, they are heading back to their Tardis’s now. We are going to meet up where our Tardis is parked.” His eyes flicker to Clara. “Looks like you are coming with us for the moment.”

Clara smiles, a tight little thing. Her eyes are already scanning the room for threats. “Pleasure.” 

We quickly make our excuses and hurry out of the ballroom. It doesn’t take long before we are out of the building entirely and well on our way to the outlying village surrounding it. The forest the Tardis is parked in is just starting to come into view when guards come out from between the buildings like ghosts. 

They all look that way at least. Their eyes are glowing an eerie green that trails behind them as they walk. 

Clara, who had been in front of us at the time, gets separated from us, a wall of the ghostly guards acting as a barrier. They don’t seem to be paying her any attention, but they are paying attention to us, however. The moment the Doctor moves to grab his sonic, they thumb what I’m going to assume is the safety off their weapons because the weapons all start making this high pitched whine. 

He lowers his hand slowly, and the whine of the weapons die down. 

I make eye contact with Clara, who is looking increasingly upset. Jerking my head towards the forest, I hope she gets what it is I’m trying to say. Her face becomes determined and she nods, before turning and disappearing into the darkness herself. 

“So did you ever figure out what really happened at this ball, or was it just a general ‘bad thing’.” I ask the Doctor casually. 

Glancing at me, he shakes his head. The response is clear, no more talking. So, grumpy but obliging, I allow the guards to cuff me and lead us back towards the castle the ball was in. 

Once we get back to the castle, instead of leading us up, they take us down. So wherever they are taking us is under the building. Which doesn’t bode well for us. Less witnesses. 

We are thrown in separate cells. The Doctor is put in the one next to mine so I can’t actually see him. I’m walked into what looks to be a three walled opening, but when the guards that lead me in retreat, a glass wall materializes. Handy that. The walls themselves are white and completely flat. Even running my fingers along them didn’t reveal any openings. 

The cells also seem to be sound proof. The Doctor doesn’t respond to any of my calls and I can’t hear him either. I refuse to believe that I can’t hear anything because there isn’t anything to hear. 

After around two hours of pacing, there is movement from outside of my cell. The window disappears leaving no barrier between me and the three guards outside. Pursing my lips, I calculate the odds of escape. I might be able to overpower them but judging by the glow in their eyes I wouldn’t peg them as ordinary people, so I wasn’t betting on that. 

Biding my time it is then. I allow them to lead me from the cell, past where I remember the Doctor being placed. He’s still there, and he bangs on the window as we go past. It looks like he’s trying to say something but it’s still soundproofed and I can’t hear anything. 

The guards lead me up the same hallway we had been led down earlier, but this time we enter a side room. Same all white architecture. There are people in lab coats bustling around. Only one person stands out and it’s a person who’s in a bright red dress. 

“Ah good.” The woman says, taking notice of me. “Get her hooked up to the chair.”

The guards frog march me over, and I count the steps. 3, 2, 1, I slam out with my elbow to make the guard behind me release me. He does, and I put the one on the left down with a kick to his knee. Spinning, I’m just about to put the third one down when a surge of electricity shorts out my thought process. 

I come to strapped to the chair anyways with my mouth faintly tasting of pineapples. 

Coughing to clear my throat, I cringe. “Why the fuck does my mouth taste like pineapples?”

“Side effect of the electricity.” The woman in red murmurs from beside me. She’s looking very carefully at a translucent pad. It’s like something you would have seen out of Tony Starks workshop if I’m to be honest. 

I shift, using the cover of stretching to test the boundaries of my restraints. “In the cuffs, of course.”

Sending me a smile, the woman looks impressed. “Oh, I always love when they’re clever.”

“Clever, yeah.” I mutter. Arching my head to look around the place only yields a glimpse of the back of my bed. My stats are displayed, a three-dimensional rendering of my body floats there. “What are you doing?”

The woman sends me a searching look. “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt. The cuffs will make sure you can’t get away and I have manual access if you get too mouthy.” A clear threat. 

I nod, signifying that I won’t try anything. At least not yet. 

“My name is Tesko.” The woman informs me. “I run an underground market for the upper class of the Quadrant. And anyone else who’s interested in buying of course.” 

I sigh. “Human trafficking.” 

“Yes. And imagine my surprise when our scans indicated that a juvenile of an almost extinct race was in attendance.” Tesko strokes a finger along the bridge of my nose, ignoring my violent twitch in the opposite direction. “Sometimes the scans can be a little off, but there was an adult Gallifreyan registered as well, so chances were good that yours was real. I just had to get my hands on you.”

Tesko waves her hand and the three-dimensional rendering of my body disappears. “Of course, I’m going to want a few blood samples just to make extra sure.” 

I purse my lips, ready to fight even if there was electricity in my cuffs. Eyeing the creepy guards with the green glowing eyes as they come up to me, I wonder if I can try and talk them out of it. 

“Basic sentient android race. They’ll follow anything so long as you pay good enough.” Tesko explains, smirk firmly in place. 

Great, so no appealing to their humanity then. 

Just as I was about to cock a knee and kick someone where the sun doesn’t shine, the door on the other side of the room hisses open. 

“Sorry for the disturbance Miss.” One of the android guards apologizes. He has the alternate version of the Doctor cuffed, marching him into the room. The sight of which sends a burst of relief down my spine. “We found this one loitering near the entrance.”

Tesko narrows her eyes at him. “Didn’t I already have you locked up in the dungeon?” 

Like quicksilver the alternate Doctor’s eyes flicker to me. I nod as subtly as possible. Shrugging, he plays it up a bit. “Yeahhh. Easy as pie to get out of. That’s ancient history though, I’m more concerned with what you’re trying to do with Willa right now.”

Looking unimpressed, Tesko gestures for the guards to finish the task. 

I kick the closest guard, successfully I might add, before the bite of electricity flows through me once again. This time I don’t pass out, but it does leave me docile enough for them to get close.

The guard to my left comes up and harshly grips my arm. With no finesse what so ever, he stabs the needle into me and fills up three vials of blood.

I have to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from crying out. 

“Hey!” The alternate Doctor objects, struggling against the guards holding him. All he gets is an elbow to the face for his troubles. “She’s just a child!” He exclaims, baring his now bloody teeth. 

Tesko raises an eyebrow. “Preliminary scans are in, all I need are the results of the blood tests. If everything checks even my great great grandchildren won’t have to work a day in their lives.”

Glancing towards me again, the alternate Doctor looks confused before his expression hardens. “Whatever she is, I assure you I’m worth far more than she is. Just scan me!” 

“Oh Doctor, don’t pretend that you don’t know.” Tesko laughs. “We already know that you’re a Gallifreyan, but you’re old and set in your ways. And quite frankly, far more trouble than you’re worth.”

He freezes. “What are you trying to say?”

Tesko looks at me. I only stare back, hoping that my Doctor will show up soon with some sort of plan that shouldn’t work but inevitably ends up working anyways. The woman huffs, rolling her eyes and focusing back on the alternate Doctor. “She’s a young Gallifreyan. Scans show she’s barely a quarter of a century old. Oh, I’m going to get so much money for this.”

“That’s impossible.” The alternate Doctor breathes out, but I can tell from the look of horror in his eyes that’s he’s remembering the fact that I’m not from his universe. 

“Impossible or not, it’s real.” Tesko states, then she sends an annoyed look to the hallway that the guard had disappeared down with the vials of my blood. “What’s taking so long?”

As if summoned by her annoyance, the door swishes open and a woman walks in. 

My intuition arcs, a glimpse is shown to me. I know exactly who this is. 

“Sorry, Sorry.” The woman apologizes, large smile on her face. “I have the results for you here Miss.”

Tesko huffs. “And the results are?”

“The results are that this whole operation is being shut down.” The woman, the Doctor, states. Her smile has been replaced with a steely expression. “Tonight.”

Tesko laughs. “You’re going to shut me down? Do you really think you’re going to get any sort of allegations to stick? Most of my highest paying customers have control of the law system.” 

“Is that supposed to scare me?” The female Doctor asks, tilting her head to the side.

“Yes.” Tesko replies. “The fact that you aren’t scared shows me that you are either arrogantly confident, or stupid. Just who are you anyways?”

I laugh, drawing the attention of everyone in the room. “You’re an idiot. Did you really think you could put out feelers for the sale of a Gallifreyan child and not have the Doctor respond to it?” 

The female Doctor smiles at me, pride evident. “Right you are Willa!”

Tesko scoffs. “You’re all arrogant. There’s a reason I’ve done so well in this business.” She looks over at her guards and gestures. “Guards, shoot the Doctor.” The guards don’t move. 

“Ah! Sorry about that. It seems that their contracts have been voided. You really should get that looked at.” The bow tied Doctor’s voice crackles over a speaker on the ceiling. 

At this point, Tesko is starting to look a little panicked. She darts towards the table I’m being held on and with a snap of her fingers my restraints fall away. Well the restraints holding me to the chair disappear, the cuffs around my hands are still there.

I dart to the side, trying to avoid her but Tesko is too fast for me. Before I really know what is happening there is a blade against my neck. Freezing, I resist the urge to swallow.

“There we go.” Tesko breathes. The female Doctor takes a step forward with her hands up, but Tesko digs her knife in just a little deeper. “I told you, arrogant the lot of you. Maybe you’ve got enough information to bring the operation down. Maybe you’ve cut my control to the guards. That doesn’t matter. I won’t let you take me down with it.” There’s a pause, I can only guess what Tesko is doing. “If anyone takes a step closer, I won’t hesitate to slit her throat. That would be a traumatizing regeneration wouldn’t it?”

Tesko waits a second, but no one moves. She takes small steps on the way to the door in order to keep her grip on me, each step makes the knife shift against my skin in ways I don’t particularly care for. I wish I had some sort of leverage in this position, that way I could at least get the knife away from my throat, but she’s holding me far to tightly. Unfortunately, Tesko doesn’t seem to be an amatuear at this. 

The door behind us swishes open and Tesko laughs in my ear. “Farewell ‘Doctors’, I hope there’s no hard feelings. It’s just business, that’s all.”

“Yes, there are hard feelings.” My Doctor’s voice comes from behind us. I close my eyes in relief. 

Tesko’s knife starts to dig in more, her making good on the threat I suppose, but the Doctor’s arm darts into view and clamps down on the arm Tesko is using to hold the knife. There is a twist, a flip, and before I can really comprehend what’s going on Tesko is on the ground cradling a broken arm and I’m in an embrace. 

“Doctor!” I cry out, hands pressed up against his chest awkwardly. I’m still in the cuffs but I really don’t care, gripping the fabric there so hard my fingers almost go numb. 

The Doctor’s arms are shaking with the force he’s using to hold me to him. “Hey there, Willa.”

My face wibbles a bit, trying to respond to the situation with tears. I will forever hate that part of this body, it is far freer with emotions than my last one was. 

Hand coming up to brush against my hairline, the Doctor brushes against my mental barriers as well. He offers comfort which I gratefully accept and assures me that it’s okay to cry if I want to. I flush, both mentally and physically. He must get my wave of – I don’t want to lose face in front of the other Doctors – because the concern I can feel coming off of him just slightly turns to amusement. 

“Shut up.” I mumble, pulling back. 

The Doctor laughs and lets me go, pulling out his sonic and releasing the cuffs. Once done, I reach out to hold on to his hand. I don’t care how much of a baby it makes me look like. Nudging me mentally again, the Doctor sends me a wave of chastisement. Mentally sighing, I respond with what basically amounts to -yeah, I get it. It’s okay to hold your hand. Doesn’t mean I still don’t feel embarrassed about it-. There’s a mutter of teenagers in response, but he does let it go so I’ll call it my win. 

By the time we’re finished and turn to the rest of the room, the female Doctor has freed the alternate Doctor from his bindings and they’ve pulled Tesko into the middle of the room. 

The alternate Doctor notes our approach, but doesn’t stop his sentence. “-with you. It isn’t going to be up to us, it’s going to be up to them.”

“It’s only fair that way.” The female Doctor chimes in. “Willa was the one you were going to sell off. And that Doctor is her primary caretaker.”

Hmm, I wonder why everyone is assuming that now when they didn’t know earlier? It only takes the formation of the thought for the Doctor to respond. It was apparently evident to any Gallifreyan who cared to look that he was taking care of me, a sort of mental openness that had a particular flavor to those who were sensitive to it. Before, no other versions of him had been looking for it. Huh, interesting. 

Turning my attention to Tesko, I meet her tear filled eyes. “It was just business huh?” 

Tesko scowls. “Of course it was.” Her tone turns more conversational now, like she’s trying to convince me. “Nothing personal, love.”

I purse my lips, thinking. Looking up at the Doctor, I run the thought I’ve just had by him. He approves.

Looking down at Tesko, the Doctor’s face turns hard, all sharp angles and burning eyes. “You are lucky Tesko Gruella, that my child is more lenient than I am.” He turns his eyes to his counterparts. “Willa has decided that a broad memory wipe of us ever being here is sufficient. Then dropping her off with a few days supplies on a planet whose biggest technological advancement would be using sticks to make fire.”

The female Doctor thinks about it. “No hope of getting off planet. Stuck in a life of work when you’ve only known wealth before.”

“Sounds perfect to me.” The alternate Doctor finishes. 

Tesko’s face drains of color. “But you can’t! I have no idea how to survive in a place like that.” 

“Don’t worry, we’ll give you a book on survival tactics, and we’ll even throw in one on the local flora that’s safe to eat.” I tell her, unmoved by her fear. She’s just tried to sell me off, and when that didn’t work she was fully prepared to slit my throat. No, I don’t feel any sympathy for her. 

The alternate Doctor moves forward and grabs Tesko by her good arm. “I’ll take care of that.” Ignoring the screams and shrieks coming from the woman who’s arm he has a hold of, he pulls her from the room. 

The female Doctor watches them go dispassionately, but when she turns back to us her whole face lights up, smile transforming the stern face into an inviting one. Her hand comes up to rest on my head, and there’s a spark of contact. One which I gladly reciprocate. 

“A Gallifreyan child.” She murmurs, blinking rapidly to clear the moisture I can see gathering in her eyes. “Oh, you are such a miracle.” 

I smile up at her, a wry tilt to my mouth. “I’m just Willa.”

“That’s all you need to be.” The female Doctor assures me, exchanging a glance with the Doctor standing behind me. Something must pass between them that I don’t catch, because the female Doctor nods. Leaning in, she places a kiss on my forehead, a benediction of a sorts, while saying something in Gallifreyan. 

“Thank you.” I hear the Doctor say, his voice sounding rough. His hand clenches around mine.

“My pleasure.” The female Doctor responds, stepping back with a brilliant smile. 

I look back up at the Doctor, who looks choked up, then back to the female Doctor who is still smiling. “I feel like I just missed something there.” 

“I’m sure he’ll tell you one day.” The female Doctor responds, tugging me away from the Doctor at my back. “Let’s give him a moment to compose himself, yeah?”

I shift, moving so that I have a hold of her hand instead of her having a hold of my arm. She pauses momentarily before her fingers tighten around mine, then continues directing us down the hallway. “I’m so glad to be meeting you.” I tell her. 

There is a hint of confusion in her gaze, but her smile stays welcoming. “I’m glad to have met you as well, Willa.” 

I smile, a secret little thing. “Don’t tell the Doctor back there, he gets a little tetchy about these things, but I caught a glimpse when you showed up.”

The female Doctor’s lips twitch in amusement. “A glimpse?”

“It’s kind of a long story.” I say, pursing my lips. “I was originally from my Doctor’s universe, but somehow got transported to another universe. One in which his life was just a tv show. So when I came back into his universe I already had some knowledge of who he was and what was going on. The Doctor put a block up to stop most of the memories from coming through, my body doesn’t react the best way when I see too much at once, but every now and again stuff slips through.” 

“I thought the Doctor said you could see timelines, not that you’d seen it from a show?” She responds, a line forming between her eyes. 

“I suppose the glimpses I get aren’t always things that I’d seen on the show.” I admit, looking away. I’m still coming to terms with what I can and can’t do, but I’m trying to be willfully ignorant of the fact that I am apparently psychic sometimes. “The Doctor says it’s cause I’m timeline sensitive, but I don’t know about that.”

The female Doctor hums, sounding like she’s just figured something out. I send a questioning look her way, but she shakes her head and gestures for me to continue. 

“But, well, yeah. I caught of glimpse of your previous self regenerating into you. And the adventure that happened before that.” I beam up at her. “It was sad, but it was happy too. Especially with the first Doctor being there as well, but never mind I’m not trying to rehash everything. I don’t know what’s going to happen, I haven’t seen anything past the initial moments. But I wanted to tell you that you will be amazing, no matter what.” 

She blinks, seemingly bemused. “You’re a peculiar child.”

I laugh. “You aren’t the first Doctor to tell me that!”

“Willa!” I hear Clara exclaim, and only have two seconds before she slams into me. 

I ooph, but twine my arms back around her anyways. “Hello Clara.”

Bow tie comes out from behind Clara and puts his arms around the both of us. He picks us up and twirls us around, ignoring the laughter and high pitched yelp that causes. “Group hug!”

I wiggle until he puts us down, straightening my clothes with a frown. That only earns me a pat on the shoulder. 

Clara laughs, looking down at me, but then her face changes. “Willa! You’re bleeding!”

Bringing my hand to the cut on my neck, I’m surprised to find that the stickiness extends down to the top of my dress. “It’s not as bad as it looks.” I offer. “She barely nicked me.”

Bow tie frowns, hands fluttering over my neck. “That doesn’t look like a nick.” He looks over my shoulder at the female Doctor and they proceed to have a rapid conversation held mostly in twitches and eye wiggles, at least that’s what it looks like with only being able to see bow tie’s side of it. Whatever they decide, bow tie isn’t all that pleased by it, but he agrees in the end. 

I look over at Clara, on my face I’m sure is the look of a longsuffering child because she stifles a laugh behind her hand. “I thought it was bad when there was only one of them.”

“Shush.” The female Doctor scolds, hand steady on my shoulder. 

In short order, I’m bustled off to the med bay of the facility. I’m sort of surprised they would want a record of me being healed here at all. At least until I see who’s actually wearing the lab coat, then I’m not surprised at all. 

I look back at the female Doctor who just winks at me. Staying quiet then. 

Bow tie gets into a short argument with Eyebrows, the Peter Capaldi version of the Doctor, before Eyebrows manages to bluster his way into healing me. I can’t lie, it’s highly entertaining to watch. 

I shift so that the female Doctor’s hand is touching the skin of my neck and then pose my question. I get the sense of laughter, and a glimpse of a lot of carefully places notes in Gallifreyan to let people know to be in specific places at specific times. Ah, I see. 

Eyebrows does good work, and it takes less than a minute to have me fully healed. I think there is a touch of regeneration energy at work as well, because the tingling sensation is very familiar. 

I open my mouth to call him out on it, and to scold him for wasting his regeneration on me but at that moment Eyebrows shoves a lollypop into the opening I’ve provided. 

It’s cherry, my favorite. So instead of spitting it out, I just glare at him while he cleans the rest of the blood off my neck. 

An exclamation of surprise comes from Bow tie, I guess he’s finally figured out that the two people he’s been in the room with are actually future versions of himself. 

“That was regeneration energy!” Bow tie accuses Eyebrows. 

“Astute observation.” Eyebrows snarks. “What’s next? Finally going to figure out how to stop flailing your limbs everywhere?”

Bow ties face falls into serious lines. With a glance towards Clara, he lowers his voice. “I’m the last, you can’t be me.”

Eyebrows looks unimpressed with himself. “Obviously I’m here, so stop throwing out words like impossible when you can clearly see it’s not.” 

I end up laughing out loud before I can stop myself, drawing the attention of the three Doctors. Bow tie’s scowl disappears, and even Eyebrows expression opens up. “I just can’t get over the fact that when you meet up with yourself, you always end up bickering. You are all the Doctor, sillys.”

“Silly, huh?” Bow tie muses, taking a step towards me. “I’m silly? How’s this for silly!”

He lunges for me with his arms outstretched and I’m not quite sure what’s going on until he starts tickling me. Then I start flailing, and giggling. It’s so uncool. 

At some point, Bow tie lets up on the torture. I slump back in the bed behind me, gasping for breath with tears in my eyes. “So unfair!”

Four people laughing is all that I get in response. 

After that things move rather quickly. My Doctor comes and gets me, bringing me back to where our Tardis is parked in the woods. Though there seems to be some sort of a seating arrangement outside of it now. I send a questioning look to him, but all I get is a gesture to wait. Slowly, one after another, four different Tardis’s materialize around the circle of chairs. Eyebrows comes out of one, the female Doctor comes out of another. Clara and Bow tie come out of the third and the alternate version of the Doctor standing behind me comes out of the forth. 

“Are we having a pow wow?” I ask, excited. 

“Of course we are!” Bow tie exclaims, bounding into the middle of the circle and immediately going up to the fireless fire pit in the middle. “Now all we need is smores.” 

Clara hurries after the bow tie Doctor, her face already concerned. “Doctor, what are you doing with the sonic? NO! Fire isn’t supposed to work that way!” 

The female Doctor hurries to help, and the alternate version of my Doctor just face palms. Eyebrows starts loudly berating Bow tie. 

I reach up and touch my Doctor’s wrist. Thanking him for setting this all up. He ruffles my hair in response, giving me a light push to go join in on the chaos. I send him a beaming smile before I wade into the crazy, loving every second of it.

xxxx  
POV Change (The Doctor)

The night was starting to approach, the rotation of the planet turning away from the sun. Clara had excused herself sometime earlier, seeming to realize the fact that her Doctor wanted to spend as much time with Willa before we had to leave as he could and above all actually understanding that and leaving him to it. 

Everyone was trying their hardest to spoil Willa rotten, and she was enjoying it too. From stories, to little trinkets, she ate it all up. I spare a moment to be sad, this was the closest she would ever get to having a real family gathering but I shake those thoughts off quickly. Even if she never experienced this again, she would have this moment to remember. 

Eventually though, even Willa starts to flag. Her responses coming slower, and her eyes starting to drop. The others notice, of course they do, they are me after all, and start calming down the festivities. My female incarnation starts a long story, one that has worked tried and true on my children in the past. It works just as well on Willa as it used to work on them, and she is asleep within minutes, leaning heavily against my incarnation with the harsh eyebrows. 

I pull a blanket from my pocket, one I always keep on hand for this reason, passing it to the Doctor next to me who spreads it over Willa. Willa has the habit of just crashing on top of me wherever we are and then shivering if there isn’t something to cover her. 

The circle descends into silence then. Everyone lost in their own memories of the past, even me. 

“I never thought I’d ever see another child again.” My alternate self murmurs in Gallifreyan. 

My female self shifts, also speaking in Gallifreyan. “She’s to be protected.”

“I’m aware.” I murmur back following suit with the language choice, nodding at the looks they are giving me. Willa is my responsibility, mine to guide and protect. 

Eyebrows slowly shifts Willa so that she’s laying in his lap, instead of leaning against his shoulder. “She’s smart.” He comments. “You’re going to have to be quick to keep up with her.” 

I push down the annoyance that causes. He isn’t trying to be critical, I know, but the fact that he’s trying to tell me what I need to do when I’ve already been doing it still chafes. 

Bow tie huffs out a laugh. “Don’t pout, pretty boy, it’s not like you wouldn’t do the same thing in our shoes.”

He has me there. I take a deep breath, letting it out and with it letting my annoyance drift away as well. 

My female self leans forwards. “Her perception of timelines is incredibly strong.”

“Yes, I’ve been working with her on it, but she still refuses to believe it’s anything more than foreknowledge.” I respond, leaning forward and tapping a finger against my mouth. 

“She mentioned something about a show?” The female Doctor prompts when I go silent. 

“Willa was originally from my universe.” I start to explain. The other Doctors lean in with interest. “I haven’t figured out how it happened yet, but somehow she got shifted to a different universe. From what I’ve been able to glean, she wasn’t treated that well there. I know she was emancipated at age 15 and that she was supporting herself. She was even most of the way through her first two Bachelors degrees at age 17.” 

I shift, getting more comfortable in my seat. “Something happened, the way she described it sounded like a temporal shift but that wouldn’t cause her to travel universes so I’m not quite sure what it really was, and she traveled back into my universe. Ended up right in the console room of my Tardis.” Laughing, I remember how stubborn she was then. She’s still stubborn now, but not anywhere close to that level. “There was a show in her universe that she watched called ‘Doctor Who’, it covered the majority of my regenerations. Apparently, it ran for over 50 years. So when Willa showed up on my Tardis she was convinced that it was all some sort of prank someone was pulling on her. She almost tossed herself out the front doors into space!” 

“There’s something you need to understand though.” I say, leaning forward. My face is serious, and the other Doctors faces follow suit. “Willa had no idea she was Gallifreyan. When she traveled back into my universe she brought her knowledge from the tv show with her, but she didn’t realize that what she perceived from the show was far more than what was shown. I know that what she saw on the show didn’t include her, and I think that’s part of the reason she persists in thinking that it’s foreknowledge. But what she doesn’t seem to realize, no what she doesn’t want to acknowledge, is that she sometimes gets bursts of intuition that does include her, with situations that are completely different now that she’s involved.”

“So not foreknowledge, but actual precognition instead.” The me with the fierce eyebrows murmurs. 

I nod. “That’s the conclusion I’ve come to as well.” Shaking my head, I sigh. “Willa is stubborn though. She’s determinedly holding on to the idea that’s it’s just foreknowledge that’s slipping through the barrier.”

My alternate self frowns, furrow appearing between his eyebrows. “Why have you put a barrier up? Normally one would encourage the sensitivity, it will be a useful tool one day.”

Bow tie and my female self nod in agreement. I sigh again. “At first it was to help her. She was getting migraines every time she tried to remember something that would take place in the future.” 

Narrowing her eyes, my female self interrupts. “Another sign of being sensitive to timelines.”

“Then a thing happened, and she pushed herself too far too fast. Shorted out the barrier.” I frown in self recrimination. “It was my fault. I needed to know something and I pushed her. But that threw her wide open. It would have been fine If I could have repaired the barrier right away but there wasn’t time for that to happen.”

“She took it to far.” Bow tie finishes, leaning back and looking grave. 

I nod. “There were other things at work as well, but yes. That was her first regeneration.” 

“And now even the barrier isn’t strong enough to hold back everything.” My female self determines. “And that’s why you get worried anytime she seems to have a serious vision.” 

“How do you know that?” I ask her, confused. 

Her eyes drift over to Willa. “Willa mentioned it, when we left you to come up and get her neck healed. She said to not tell you but that she had a glimpse when she saw me and that’s how she knew who I was.” 

“She knew who I was too at first glance.” Eyebrows chimes in. We all stare at Willa, but she remains asleep and unaware of the concern she’s causing. 

“Maybe having all of us here is acting as some sort of stabilizer to her?” Bow tie offers. “We could be close enough mentally to the Doctor of her universe to register as family. And as such she would be drawing energy from us as well.”

I hum noncommittedly. “Perhaps.” Doesn’t mean I wouldn’t be running tests when we got back into our own universe. 

A glance from my alternate version tells me he knows exactly what’s I’m thinking. “How much longer do you have here?”

“Fifty four mintues and twenty five seconds.” I answer. 

A shiver goes through the group. “It’s time then.” Bow tie says. Everyone sits up in response. 

This wasn’t always done, in fact this type of ceremony had fallen out of favor long ago. But my family had performed it for me, and I had performed it for my children. It was only right that Willa had it performed for her as well. 

“From those who’ve come before.” My female self starts. The murmuring continues, and it becomes difficult to make out who’s saying what. It is all the Doctor in the end, there is no other distinction needed after that. 

“From those who will come after.” “We call upon you to watch over this child.” “Give her comfort when we cannot.” “Give her strength when we cannot.” “In the ways of our people.” “So shall it be done.”

The flames of the fire shiver and shake. A presence is watching, all of us can feel it. 

“You who have named the child, bring the name forth.” The words leave my mouth. 

My female incarnation bows her head and speaks a long stream of Gallifreyan. My mind translates it as ‘bright eyed child who travels the stars’. A fitting name for one such as Willa. 

The presence comes closer, observing. All noise stops, even the fire is suspended in time. We all murmur as one. “This child is so named.”

I take a deep breath, hearing it echoed by my other selves around the campfire as time is put back to the way it should be. The presence is gone, but it witnessed what it needed to. 

Bowing my head, I place my hands on my knees as and give my thanks. This is a gift that they have given freely, one that I desperately wanted Willa to have but never thought possible. 

The clearing once again descends into silence. All of us enjoying the last moments. With ten minutes to spare, I gesture to the me with eyebrows who proceeds to wake Willa up. 

Willa yawns widely, seemingly confused as she rubs her eyes with her hand. When her eyes fall on the group her face falls and a line forms between her eyebrows. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep.” 

Eyebrows strokes a hand down her hair. “It’s okay, it gave the adults some time to talk.” 

She narrows her eyes up at him, probably upset at the way he referred to her as a child but she surprises me instead. “It’s not okay. I know we have to leave soon and I wanted to spend as much time as I could with all of you before I left.” 

My female incarnation laughs. “We still spent time with you, you were just asleep for it.”

Willa sighs. Taking a deep breath, she stands up and starts saying her goodbyes. Each incarnation looks away respectfully as the other gets their own goodbye. Until she’s gone through all of my alternate selves, and the only one left is me. 

Grabbing my hand tight, Willa gives her best smile to the group surrounding us. It’s a little wobbily, and wet, but no one points it out. I nod, receiving nods in return. Turning, I lead Willa into the Tardis, placing the battery into the appropriate spot and watching as the lights come back on. 

The Tardis hums, pulsing the lights at me and I nod. Quickly, I input the controls to reverse what we did when coming here. The Tardis takes care of the rest, engines laboring as she slips through the crack in the universe that first brought us here. 

The hum quiets as we find a bit of calm space and the Tardis reappears on the right side of the crack. 

Willa’s mask of bravery falls then, and I curl my arms around her in an embrace. Her sobs are silent, only her shaking shoulders give her away, and they are all the more heartbreaking for it. Eventually she cries herself out. 

I pick her up and head to the library, the spot that she considers our safe space. This time, instead of picking up a book and reading, I tell her instead about the half remembered myths of my childhood. Of eldritch creatures, and shared history. And if in the middle of that I happen to tell her what name has been given to her.

Well, that would be between me and her now wouldn’t it?


End file.
